ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
Cover Page
Life of Mystery

Beyond Books
City College's new Learning Resource Center is not just a place to keep library books.

Designer's Challenge
New technology meets classic design innovation.

Improving Mother Nature
Jerry Lynch teaches that "environmental control" is more than keeping our homes and offices at a comfortable temperature.

Poles Apart
CET computer instructors Joe McGerald and Dea Brite discovered that teaching in Barrow, Alaska, is a different animal.

Bach to the Future
Channing Booth shows even the non-musical how to use computers to compose a tune.

Chancellor's Page
Except of Augie Gallego's testimony in Sacramento about the effects of the state's draconian budget cuts

Development News
>District Advancement Office is four years old;
>Benchmark Project;
>KSDS Radio News. New members on Miramar College Foundation Board, donations for transportation programs, Corporate Council holiday event and new members

Factoids
Miscellaneous tidbits of news

More Factoids
Miscellaneous tidbits of news

Accidental Heroes
Maintenance workers help car crash victim

Newsmakers
Accomplishments by faculty and staff…

Accomplishments of faculty and staff

NewsMakers

Steven Siegel, Mesa College physics professor, took part in a quantum physics workshop at the American Association of Physics Teachers and American Physical Society summit in Texas last fall. The meeting was part of a two-year program sponsored by Mesa College, Texas A & M University, Lee College and the National Science Foundation to update science education programs at two-year colleges.

Myles Clowers, City College professor of history and political science, wrote three entries for Greenwood Press’ second edition of American Political Scientists: A Dictionary. The reference book’s only community college contributor, Clowers defined Charles A. Beard, Charles Merriam and Thomas Woodrow Wilson.

Sal Alenazi, accounting technician in Business Services’ Budget Office, recently earned his master’s degree in business and administration, with a minor in e-commerce, from National University.

Gayla Pierce, district Food Services supervisor, recently attended two functions at the Culinary Institute of America, Greystone, in St. Helena, Calif. The first was the World of Flavors conference, which focused on the growing impact Latin flavors are having on what we eat. Pierce was also invited by Ventura Foods to participate in a research and development summit at the CIA, which is well known in the food industry for its continuing education opportunities. This event was designed to give participants an opportunity to do hands-on work with a variety of food products as a way to broaden menu choices and options.

Vanessa White, a buyer in Business Services' Purchasing and Contracts Services, earned the Certified Purchasing Manager and Accredited Purchasing Practitioner designations in September 2002.

Lou Murillo, president of District Advancement, recently completed a three-year term on the board of directors for the Network for California Community College Foundations (NCCCF), and served as the chairman of the annual symposium committee which organized the 2002 convention in San Diego in October. At the conclusion of that convention, Murillo was awarded NCCCF’s Eagle Award, the group’s annual recognition for outstanding achievement as a resource development professional. He was honored for developing the Corporate Council, which brings local and national firms into a close and supportive relationship with the district. Murillo is also the 2002-2003 secretary of the Centro Cultural de la Raza and in January was elected to the board of directors of the San Diego County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Bob Carlin, accounting technician in the Grants and Contracts section of Business Services passed the two-day IRS Special Enrollment Examination and received certification for Enrollment to Practice before the Internal Revenue Service.

Kendra Jeffcoat, Mesa College dean, has been appointed San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy's representative to the region’s Human Relations Commission.The commission’s goal is to "conduct and promote activities that foster mutual respect and understanding, protect basic human and civil rights and to create an atmosphere (using education and collaborations) that promotes amicable relations among all members of the San Diego community."

City College fine arts professor Yoonchung "YC" Kim is one of 15 artists chosen to participate in an exhibition called "Dreams and Reality" at the Washington, D.C. International Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution in August 2003. Commemorating 100 years of Asian immigration to America, the curator chose immigrant artists who have actively exhibited in major U.S. museum collections for at least 20 years. Kim will be the only ceramicist in an exhibition that focuses mostly on paintings and sculptures. Following the Smithsonian, the exhibition moves to the New Contemporary Museum of Arts and Crafts in New York.

Miramar College welcomes Virginia Guleff, professor of English and ESOL who has authored two ESOL textbooks, a multi-skills activity book and Tapestry Reading One. She came to Miramar from City College; she’s also taught at DeAnza College, Palomar College and San Diego State University.

Richard Frost, City College math professor, is a coauthor of a newly released book from the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics.  The book, Facts, Conjectures, and Improvements for Simulated Annealing, discusses computational approaches to finding good solutions to complicated industrial problems, such as parcel routing, circuit board partitioning and protein folding.

Ivonne Alvarez, Mesa College admissions director, has been elected representative of Regions 9 and 10 for the California Association of Community College Registrars and Admissions Officers.

In late 2002, City College marine biology professor Paul Detwiler authored the article “The Benthic Invertebrates of the Salton Sea: Distribution and Seasonal Dynamics,” which appears in issue 473 of Hydrobiologia, an international journal of aquatic biology. One of the few marine biologists who work in deserts, Detwiler and his colleagues at the Center for Inland Waters at San Diego State University studied California's largest lake in the first comprehensive survey of the biological resources of the Salton Sea since 1956. His research group documented the seasonal changes in the abundance of key crustaceans and worms which fish and waterfowl depend upon as food, and found four species of worms never before reported in the Salton Sea environment. Results from the investigation will be used in ecosystem management decisions by federal and state authorities.

Pattie Grela, administrative technician in Business Services’ Purchasing and Contract Services, earned her bachelor’s degree in organizational behavior from National University.

This magazine, WE--With Excellence, was once again recognized for outstanding editorial and graphic content by the National Council of Marketing and Public Relations (NCMPR), which presented the 2002 District 6 Medallion of Excellence gold award to Kristin Tow, WE editor and information officer in District Advancement. District Advancement also won the Medallion of Achievement silver award for the community ad campaign in 22 local newspapers, coordinated by Mary Lee, administrative assistant.

Sandi Trevisan, information officer at Miramar College, received a Gold Medallion Award for the college’s fall 2002 class schedule, while the college's new foundation brochure, designed by desktop publisher Joan Mize, received the Silver Medallion Award for best two-color publication.

John Nunes, Mesa College information officer, along with graphic artists Sue Nizyborski and Carol Beilstein, won the NCMPR Gold Medallion for Excellence in the Promotional Campaign for Special Event category, for the promotion of 2002’s commencement and commencement speaker, alumna Annette Bening.

Charlotta Grant, curriculum analyst in Instructional Services, finished her bachelor's degree in public administration from San Diego State University last fall and will walk in commencement ceremonies in May 2003.

City College English professor Gail Feinstein Forman received a San Diego Press Club Excellence in Journalism Award for her Nov. 1, 2002, review in the San Diego Jewish Press Heritage of an “American Expulsion,”a work in the Streisand Family Festival of New Jewish Plays that dealt with General U.S. Grant’s order during the Civil War expelling Jews from the Mississippi territory.

Bernadette Sampson, who is serving a year-long interim assignment at Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District as the senior director/controller for Business Services, completed her MBA in financial management at National University. She returns to the district this coming fall.

Dan Wilkie, Miramar College diesel professor, finished 31st among 200 competitors in his first national competition at a SASS (Single Action Shooting Society) event, the Annual Southwest Regional Championship of Cowboy Action Shooting held in Norco, Calif. This sanctioned contest requires participants to dress in appropriate costumes and use firearms of the 1800s. More than 300 competitors shot in 12 or more stages of the competition over the course of several days.

City College history professor Don Estes and his son Matthew, also a teacher, designed a new website for ABC-CLIO Inc. of Santa Barbara, a publisher of history and social studies resources for high school and university students, teachers and librarians. The site contains lesson plans, maps, photographs and supplemental materials on the World War II relocation of Japanese Americans. The Estes father and son team has co-authored a number of pieces on the Japanese-American relocation experience, including two articles on the San Diego Historical Society website.

Manny Bautista, Mesa College physical education professor, has been appointed as the Men's Head Manager for the 2003 Pan American Games to be held August 2003 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. In June, Bautista retired from coaching the men's cross country team but continues to teach.

Shannon Nasca, senior clerical assistant, is the College Police Department’s employee of the quarter. She is assigned to Mesa College.

David Snyder is Mesa College’s new associate dean for service learning and Humanities Institute programs. Most recently he was program director for the Vermont Campus Compact in Middlebury, Vt. His duties included directing the New England Collaboration for Service Learning Leadership and the Learn & Serve Higher Education Grant, which provides support and technical assistance in service learning training to faculty, staff and students in universities throughout that region. Snyder has a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., a master’s in city planning and a doctorate in education from UC Berkeley.

Salley Deaton, City College business professor, received the 10Leadership award from KGTV Channel 10 for her work with the "Street of Dreams" program, which helps at-risk teens find meaning and success in education. Located on the campus of San Diego City College, Street of Dreams is a dual enrollment (high school and college) academic elective for youth and who have never had a college attendee in their family.As motivation, it uses recording artists who teach self expression through creative writing, music composition, performance and the art of business sales.

Miramar College English professor Carmen Jay has been selected for inclusion in the national directory of Who's Who Among America's College Teachers and was recently appointed to the board of the English Council of California's Two-Year Colleges.

Miramar College speech professor Lisa Brewster was recently selected for Who's Who of America's Top Teachers, representing the top 5 percent of all teachers in the United States.

More than 80 faculty members from community colleges in Southern California attended the annual CMC3 South Fall Mini Conference, hosted by Miramar College in late October. Themed "Soaring Through Cyberspace," the full-day event was organized by math professors Yolanda James and Carol Murphy, the conference chair, and assisted by An Huynh, who provided critical technical support for the high-tech event.